Win NotZ with "Skids" O'Toole Solo (Revised Core Set)

"Skids" O'Toole

"Running Man"

This singleplayer "Skids" O'Toole deck stays light on its feet, fighting or evading as needed, while searching for answers in the Night of the Zealot campaign. This is essentially an improved starter deck. It uses cards only from the Revised Core Set. It aims to win by taking out at least four cultists in The Midnight Masks and then disrupting the ritual in The Devourer Below.

Inherent Advantages:

• Good Agility
• Average Combat
• Buys Extra Actions

You are scrappy. Agile and tough, you can both win a foot race or put up a fight when cornered. This lets you play a fighter who deals with enemies on your terms. What's better, you have a built-in Leo De Luca installment plan that lets you pay resources for an extra action each round. Now that's money!

Inherent Flaws:

• Poor Willpower
• Poor Sanity
• Average Intellect

Your mental defenses are not good. Save your Willpower icons for treacheries or strive to beat the scenario before the encounter deck really has a chance to get started. Your Intellect isn't bad, but your card pool emphasizes things other than investigation. You're going to have a hard time with high shroud locations.

Game Plan:

Your stats are fairly average, so you can play a jack of all trades. Make a stand when you need to, but if you don't have to fight, don't. You've got the Agility stat to evade most enemies. Ignore the chumps and go toe to toe only with whatever you can't outrun (i.e. enemies you have to defeat, those with doom on them, and hunters you can't shake).

Your action economy is the key to victory. Look to cash in 2 resources for an extra action every round. As long as your bankroll holds out, that means you're doing 33% more than the average investigator. You're not running Leo De Luca because he's expensive and his breakeven point takes three rounds.

You can move around quite flexibly. Take advantage of this to get to low shroud locations where you can reliably investigate or to simply find a quiet place to tool up before a fight. Don't be afraid to provoke an attack of opportunity when you need to, especially since you should have an ally or two in play to help soak up the hit.

Action Priority:

• Investigate: Conditionally (in low shroud or w/ synergistic asset/event)
• Fight: Conditionally (only when you must, otherwise evade and move on)
• Evade: Often

Deck Composition:

This section analyzes the proportion of cards in the deck before (and after) upgrades according to their primary role, as opposed to their type, cost, icons, or any other factor. The roles considered include:

• Damage: Cards that primarily help you defeat enemies.
• Discovery: Cards that primarily help you discover clues.
• Mobility: Cards that primarily help you move around and avoid enemies.
• Economy: Cards that primarily help you gain or save resources, actions, or cards.
• Support: Cards that help you or other investigators do things, but don't directly affect the state of play.

14 (↘12) Damage cards

• 2x Knife
• 2x Machete
• 2x Switchblade
• [2x Guard Dog]
• 2x Backstab
• 2x Overpower
• 2x Vicious Blow

4 (-) Discovery cards

• 2x Flashlight
• [2x Evidence!]
• (2x Lockpicks •)

5 (↗7) Mobility cards

• 2x Dodge
• 2x Elusive
• 1x On the Lam
• (2x Cat Burglar •)

2 Economy cards

• 2x Emergency Cache

6 (-) Support cards

• 2x Guts
• [2x Opportunist]
• 2x Unexpected Courage
• (2x Sure Gamble •••)

Card Notes:

• Flashlight isn't now and will never be flashy, but -2 shroud makes a big difference for you. Since you're flying solo, you won't need a lot of clues to advance the act. A single Flashlight should be enough to clear multiple low shroud locations of all of their clues and keep you moving forward.

• Knife isn't a fabulous weapon, but it is inexpensive. This matters when you're trying to keep your costs low in order to pay for those extra actions. Even this humble Knife will still help you hit weaker enemies and can be discarded for one hard hit on a bigger bad.

• Machete is as good as a pistol when you're facing off against just one foe. Your capacity to pick your battles through confident evasion make this an ideal weapon for you.

• Switchblade is like Knife in that it isn't a very powerful weapon, but it is efficient. So efficient, in fact, that it doesn't even cost an action to play. Against weaker enemies or when used in combination with Physical Training, Overpower, or Sure Gamble, you've even got a shot at benefiting from its damage bonus.

• Guard Dog helps you deal with smaller enemies by soaking up damage and dealing some damage back at the attacker. With a Guard Dog at your side, you have the flexibility to move or do other things even when engaged with an enemy. Damage from the attack of opportunity will be absorbed and the enemy whittled down at the same time.

• Backstab is like a fourth weapon in your inventory. For a single action and 3 resources, you've got a pretty good shot at dealing 3 damage. That should be enough to defeat many enemies entirely. Otherwise, this offers you relevant icons to commit to a test.

• Dodge offers icons that you like and the prospect of nullifying one enemy attack (whether that attack is regular, retaliatory, or opportunity). This could easily buy you an extra round of actions before taking a hit when faced with a big bad or just a run of bad luck.

• Elusive has had its printed text mutated by the Taboo List. It now reads: "Disengage from each enemy engaged with you and move to a connecting location with no enemies." While you can no longer fly across town with this for a scant 2 resources, this remains a cornerstone of your Agility-based game plan. Perhaps you can shake a pack of enemies and land in a key location...

• Emergency Cache nets you 3 resources, which pays for 1.5 rounds of your signature ability or a critical asset or event. Keeping your accounts in the black is important.

• Evidence! supports your clue finding with applicable icons. Committing this, you can confidently investigate a 3 shroud location. Combined with Flashlight, you can find clues in even darker places. If you defeat an enemy, this also lets you buy a clue off the location regardless of its shroud value. You'll swap this out in upgrades.

• On the Lam is your signature card and, like you, it's helpful in a lot of situations, but absolutely critical in few. Use this for a critical end run or simply commit it for a big boost when investigating or evading. In a pinch, it's your third copy of Unexpected Courage for a Willpower or Combat test.

• Guts is here because prison did a number on your mental health. You need a lot of help against treacheries to keep from taking horror.

• Opportunist gives you an icon to commit to whatever test comes your way with the potential to use it again if you over-succeed.

• Overpower helps you hit above your weight class when it's time to fight.

• Unexpected Courage is here because you need a flexible assortment of icons and this provides exactly that.

• Vicious Blow is another way for you to deliver impactful damage when you're forced to fight. With a particular story asset ally and a weapon in play, this could even let you land up to 4 damage in a single attack.

• Hospital Debts is your signature weakness. Your poor mother racked up an extensive bill before she died, and you're still dealing with it. You can ignore the notices they keep sending you, but it will cost you precious XP at the end of the scenario.

• Mob Enforcer is the basic weakness included in the original "Skids" starter deck in the Core Set. This bruiser has been sent after you to collect. You can probably evade him for a round or two. Fighting him won't be as easy. If you've got the cash to pay him, of course, he'll leave.

Mulligan Targets:

These are the cards you most hope to see in your opening hand and should consider mulliganing something else in hopes of drawing.

• (Damage) Machete, Guard Dog, Backstab, or Vicious Blow: You need to have some damage dealing potential in case you're cornered. Your other blades are better than nothing, but Machete is the best weapon available to you. Guard Dog soaks damage and deals some in return, letting you potentially turn a move action into a damage dealer when the enemy's attack of opportunity hits. If you're forced to fight, you can also lean on Backstab or Vicious Blow to land a worthwhile hit and potentially defeat an enemy in one action.

• (Economy) Emergency Cache: This doesn't advance your game plan directly, but it injects resources, which you'll likely need within the first 2-3 rounds in order to keep your plan (and your signature ability) from stalling.

• (Clues) Flashlight, Evidence!, or Lockpicks: Any one of these is necessary for you to reliably succeed in an investigation at a shroud value 2 or higher location. Flashlight is probably the preferred choice among these until you have the Lockpicks.

• (Mobility) Dodge, Elusive, On the Lam, or Cat Burglar: These cards help you move around regardless of enemies and sometimes even other restrictions imposed by the scenario.

Ideal Hand:

You probably don't mulligan anything if you see an opening hand like this:

• Machete
• Emergency Cache
• Flashlight
• Dodge
• Guts

Upgrade Path:

Night of the Zealot is a short three-scenario campaign. You're only going to pick up a spare handful of XP before reaching the finale. At most, you might be able to earn 16XP or so if you're especially successful in The Gathering and The Midnight Masks. This leaves fairly little room to evolve the deck, so these upgrades focus instead on gaining incremental value, emphasizing a key strength or shoring up a weakness. Buy these in any order you wish.

• Lita Chantler the eponymous zealot, is not a card you can purchase, but she will enter stage left during The Gathering. Her abilities lift your combat potential up from average to good. You can add her to your deck if you make a specific choice at the end of that scenario, and you definitely should do so.

• 1x Charisma ••• is a great idea if you decide to let Lita burn your house down and take her with you for the rest of the campaign. Her static boost to Combat is great, but you don't want to lose the help of all your other allies.

• 2x Guard Dog → 2x Cat Burglar • is that second-story man you met on the inside. He effectively gives you a copy of Elusive to play every round in addition to the static Agility boost. Trade your canine companion for a feline one and you'll be even lighter on your feet.

• 2x Opportunist → 2x Sure Gamble ••• wins you a test that you would have failed in almost all cases and you get to decide whether to play it after the chaos bag shows its hand. This is a very powerful effect. You should prioritize Sure Gamble as a mulligan target once you've got it in the deck.

• 2x Evidence! → 2x Lockpicks • open doors, behind which are clues. Think of these as a better Flashlight. Lockpicks let you investigate at an unmodified skill value of 7 once per round and potentially don't run out of uses. This shores up your underwhelming investigative skills and changes what was a notable disadvantage into something you'll want to do often as long as the Lockpicks don't break.